Preseason Bracketology: An Early Look at The 2016 NCAA Tournament Field

Regular season NCAA Basketball begins this Friday, so there is no better time to throw out some Bracketology that is sure to be ridiculously wrong in a series of weeks than right now!

I will do my best to keep this updated in a weekly fashion, but as with Power Rankings and other "weekly" articles, they sometimes get neglected in favor of recent or breaking news. As the season goes along I will actually attempt to format them in terms of a bracket that is feasible, but given how early it is, along with the new bracket procedural changes, makes it a tall task to produce that right now.

Each week I will provide an S-Curve (ranking every team from 1-68), and also include: The First Four Out, Last Four In, Automatic Berths, and Conference Team Breakdown. This will provide a good snapshot of who is where, and what type of work needs to be done to get a team from off the bubble and into the Field of 68.

I have done my best to get an accurate preseason field together, relying heavily on the preseason predictions of KenPom (especially for the conference champions). His preseason rankings provide a good idea of how good a team should be, but does not account for transfers and freshmen (other than 5 stars and players ranked in the top 100 of the RSCI). This required some discretion on my part to determine what teams will benefit the most from that.

For example, LSU is ranked 49th in KenPom, but will likely be much higher than that as the year goes along because of their sensational freshman class, led my the No.1 player in the class in Ben Simmons.

As the season moves along teams will shift around based on wins, losses, and anything else that may change their status in the bracket (injuries, transfers, off-the-court issues). I will base most of where a team stands off of body of work, as well as talent level to get a bit of a predictive, as well as accurate snapshot of where a team currently is as well.

If there are any recommendations to make this more informative to readers please let me know, as I am always open for suggestions.

Bracketology S-Curve

1. North Carolina (ACC)

2. Kentucky (SEC)

3. Duke

4. Maryland (Big Ten)

5. Virginia

6. Kansas (Big 12)

7. Michigan State

8. Villanova (Big East)

9. Oklahoma

10. Gonzaga (WCC)

11. Wichita State (MVC)

12. Connecticut (American)

13. California (Pac-12)

14. Indiana

15. Arizona

16. Iowa State

17. Baylor

18. Cincinnati

19. Notre Dame

20. Michigan

21. Utah

22. Vanderbilt

23. Miami (FL)

24. Purdue

25. Oregon

26. Georgetown

27. Wisconsin

28. LSU

29. Xavier

30. Butler

31. Louisville

32. Texas

33. Iowa

34. Florida State

35. UCLA

36. Texas A&M

37. North Carolina State

38. Ohio State

39. San Diego State (MW) 40

40. Davidson (A-10) 46

41. UNLV

42. Boise State

43. West Virginia

44. Providence

45. Valparaiso (Horizon) 35

46. Tulsa

47. Dayton

48. Rhode Island

49. Stephen F Austin (Southland) 67

50. Akron (MAC) 75

51. UAB (C-USA) 79

52. Princeton (Ivy) 81

53. Iona (MAAC) 84

54. North Dakota State (Summit) 87

55. Stony Brook (America East) 88

56. Hawaii (Big West) 94

57. Hofstra (CAA) 98

58. Belmont (OVC) 99

59. Louisiana Lafayette (Sun Belt) 101

60. North Florida (A-Sun) 117

61. Lehigh (Patriot) 120

62. Chattanooga (Southern) 123

63. Coastal Carolina (Big South) 132

64. New Mexico State (WAC) 138

65. Montana (Big Sky) 142

66. Mount St. Mary’s (NEC) 179

67. North Carolina Central (MEAC) 202

68. Texas Southern (SWAC) 245

1-Seeds- North Carolina, Kentucky, Duke, Maryland

2-seeds- Virginia, Kansas, Michigan State, Villanova

3-seeds- Oklahoma, Gonzaga, Wichita State, Connecticut

4-seeds- California, Indiana, Arizona, Iowa State

5-seeds- Baylor, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Michigan

6-seeds- Utah, Vanderbilt, Miami, Purdue,

7-seeds- Oregon, Georgetown, Wisconsin, LSU

8-seeds- Xavier, Butler, Louisville, Texas,

9-seeds- Iowa. FSU, UCLA, Texas A&M,

10-seeds- N.C. State, Ohio State, San Diego State, Davidson,

11-seeds- UNLV, Boise State, West Virginia, Providence,

12-seeds- Valparaiso, Tulsa, Dayton, Rhode Island, Stephen F. Austin, Akron,

13-seeds- UAB, Princeton, Iona, North Dakota State,

14-seeds- Stony Brook, Hawai’i , Hofstra, Belmont,

15-seeds- Louisiana Lafayette, North Florida, Lehigh, Chattanooga,

16-seeds- Coastal Carolina, New Mexico State, Montana, Mount St. Mary’s, North Carolina Central, Texas Southern

Last Four In: Providence, Tulsa, Dayton, Rhode Island

Last Four Out: Syracuse, Georgia, BYU, Marquette

Breakdown By Conference

ACC (8): UNC, Duke, Virginia, Notre Dame, Miami, Louisville, Florida State, NC State

Big 10 (8): Maryland, Michigan State, Indiana, Michigan, Purdue, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio State

Big 12 (6): Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa State, Baylor, Texas, West Virginia

Big East (5): Villanova, Georgetown, Xavier, Butler, Providence

Pac-12 (5): California, Arizona, Utah, Oregon, UCLA

SEC (4): Kentucky, Vanderbilt, LSU, Texas A&M

Atlantic 10 (3): Davison, Dayton, Rhode Island

Mountain West (3): San Diego State, UNLV, Boise State

American (3): Connecticut, Cincinnati, Tulsa

One Bid Leagues (23): Wichita State (MVC), Gonzaga (WCC), Valparaiso (Horizon), SF Austin (Southland), Akron (MAC), UAB (C-USA), Princeton (Ivy), Iona (MAAC), NDSU (Summit), Stony Brook (America East), Hawaii (Big West), Hofstra (CAA), Belmont (OVC), UL-Lafayette (Sun Belt), North Florida (A-Sun), Lehigh (Patriot), Chattanooga (Southern), Coastal Carolina (Big South), NMSU (WAC), Montana (Big Sky) Mount Saint Mary’s (NEC), NC Central (MEAC), Texas Southern (SWAC)